Ensuring Sustainable Electricity for All in West Africa through Innovative Decentralised Renewable Energy Solutions: An Analysis of Ivorian Context

Abstract

"The purpose of this study is twofold. On the one hand, remind African and international policymakers that access to energy is a basic right needed for the realization of other rights. On the other hand, it seeks to find the appropriate means to ensure access to this important right for the poorest people in West Africa and Côte d'Ivoire in particular, in a sustainable way. Our hypothesis is that; the energy policies in place do not allow in the current path and will not allow, following the current paradigm, to achieve the objective 7 of the SDGs in 2030. Innovation at all levels is the key that can enable populations to have access to a modern, sustainable electricity at a lower cost and promote sustainable local development. However, this requires a paradigm shift in African countries' electrification conceptions and better energy access policies geared towards sustainability goals. In other words, by promoting innovative decentralised renewable energy solutions and better planning for rural electrification. To conduct our study, we proceeded to an evaluation of the energy access and rural electrification policy in Côte d'Ivoire as well as the real case study scenario. We focused our investigations on the project of productive use of energy of the village of donvagne, Lifi led project implemented in the village of Drongouine and a case study of the pay as you go market in Ivory Coast and in Senegal. At the end of our research, the results collected from Rise 2017 showed that access to energy suffers from its average planning and the weak accent marked by proactive policies in rural electrification and decentralised systems. In addition, the study reveals that the presence of the network in a locality does not automatically mean that households have access to electricity. This presence of the grid in rural areas does not contributes ex nihilo to local development even less to the sustainable development of communities. Finally, technological and financial innovation (Lifi led and pay as you go) can be powerful means to accelerate access to energy and its impacts in rural areas. Indeed, the decentralised approach to planning; Coupled with the nature of decentralised renewable systems and solutions can have more sustainable impacts on urban and rural peri- urban communities if they target the productive use of energy and the innovative and adapted diversification of electricity uses and services. A combination of solutions (network extension and decentralised systems depending on the realities involved), and the promotion of innovation at all levels: political, technological and financial; ensure sustainable access to electricity in West Africa more quickly and efficiently."